Cranking battery issues

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Nitro929

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Dec 15, 2020
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San Diego, Ca
I have a 2017 nitro Z21 w/12" elite ti in console and an 9" elite ti and a hydrowave up front, a genius 4bank 40amp charger. I have an Interstate AGM 31m cranking battery. This battery is 3 months old (Interstate warrantied the first one). The battery is going dead by 10am and all I'm running is the graphs and the hydrowave. I would expect the battery to hold enough of a charge to run this equipment and still start the engine after a day on the water let alone 3hrs, is anyone else having this issue?
 
my advice is to take the battrey to another shop and have it load tested. it is possible you have 2 duds in a row. quick test , turn off all equipment and then take off the + lead and make and break the lead with the + post . if you see sparks you probably have a short somewhere on the boat. DO THIS NOW jf a glass boat catches on fire its likely to burn. in the garage? in the driveway?
 
I was having problems with my batteries. My 24 v trolling motor would die after about 4 hours of use. After 2 trips to the store to get the battery replaced, I found out my charger was bad. I was not getting a full charge in one of the batteries. Make sure your charger is putting out at between 14.4 to 14.7 volts.
 
I have a 2016 Z20 and had a similar issue. I will assume you have the same power switch and connection. The "1" on the switch is for normal use and the "2" is for back up starting only. Do not run in the "1+2" position.
 
my advice is to take the battrey to another shop and have it load tested. it is possible you have 2 duds in a row. quick test , turn off all equipment and then take off the + lead and make and break the lead with the + post . if you see sparks you probably have a short somewhere on the boat. DO THIS NOW jf a glass boat catches on fire its likely to burn. in the garage? in the driveway?
Thank you for input, I work for a large company and we have a full staff of mechanics so I had the battery tested at both Interstate and where I work. It has always past the load tests. My question is, can the battery have a failure issue with a constant low load while still passing a high load test that is the industry standard. I am now in the process of checking the charger and isolating the different loads off the battery. I was hopping that maybe there are a few people that experienced the same issue and had a common cause.
 
I was having problems with my batteries. My 24 v trolling motor would die after about 4 hours of use. After 2 trips to the store to get the battery replaced, I found out my charger was bad. I was not getting a full charge in one of the batteries. Make sure your charger is putting out at between 14.4 to 14.7 volts.
I just bought another charger for the spare that I now have. Today I plan on disconnecting my built in charger (I do have a green light) and connecting the new charger to the battery and see what condition the battery is in, if after analyzing the battery the new charger goes into tending mode that I think I can eliminate the charger as being bad.
 
I have a 2016 Z20 and had a similar issue. I will assume you have the same power switch and connection. The "1" on the switch is for normal use and the "2" is for back up starting only. Do not run in the "1+2" position.
love that switch....makes jumping the battery very simple, and yes I only run it in the #1 position.
 
I am curious. I just bought a 2019 Z21 with the same charger. Are the leads on the charger dedicated to specific batteries, cranking and trolling? If not, could you switch one of the leads from a trolling motor battery to the cranking to see if there is a problem with the current connection?
 
It sound like to me that the battery is not getting a full charge. When you had it tested did it read 12.57 volts and when loaded only go down to 10.5 volts and when recovered go back to at least 12.4 volts.
I don't remember the voltage drop during the test but it did recover pretty quickly to the starting voltage read
 
I am curious. I just bought a 2019 Z21 with the same charger. Are the leads on the charger dedicated to specific batteries, cranking and trolling? If not, could you switch one of the leads from a trolling motor battery to the cranking to see if there is a problem with the current connection?
The charger is 4 separate chargers built into one unit. All are rated at 40amps. Their is no specific charger for cranking or trolling batteries.
 
If you cannot find any problem with the battery, short or the charger, then have the Motor's alternator and charging system checked out.
 
I would bet dollars to donuts that the charger (at least that bank) has died. My NOCO did that in less that 3 years. They are sealed and can't be fixed either. If you are the original owner within the 3 yr warranty and have your receipt you might try claiming warranty replacement.
 

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